You(th) decide – participant Patrycja's opinion / PL
You(th) decide - final conference - participant Patrycja's opinion / PL
On September 12, 2019, at 3 PM, we arrived in Bistuszowa for a meeting of young people from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, the topic of which was the participation of young people in the local life of their communities.
We started our meeting with a joint lunch, after which we went to the conference room. The activities began with getting to know the other project participants. A game helped us with this, which involved presenting three sentences about ourselves, two of which were true and one false. The task of the others was to identify the false statement. Then, we jointly considered the definition of "youth participation".
The mayor of the Ryglice commune, Paweł Augustyn, visited us and gave a very interesting speech about engaging in local life. After the speech, another guest arrived - the mayor of Ustrzyki Dolne, Bartosz Romowicz, who stayed in our commune until the day of the conference at the Palace under the Oaks in Zalasowa.
The next part of the project was to create and present a local coat of arms, which consisted of 5 elements that represented our expectations, achievements, challenges, and characteristic elements of our community. After these activities, we took a short break, during which we could taste sweets and enjoy coffee or tea. After the break, we began preparations for the conference. Each of us was introduced to the tasks that needed to be prepared. This included preparing presentations, interviews with the local community, documenting the meeting by taking photos, and assigning roles that each of us was to fulfill.
We ended the meeting with a barbecue, a joint conversation, and games. The first day of the project was a very intense and dynamic day for us, due to many tasks and activities, but it can also be described as satisfying and fulfilling, because each of us gained new knowledge, acquaintances, and interesting time spent together. Around 10:30 PM, we finished the joint activities.
On September 13, 2019, at 10 AM, we began the most important part of the project - the conference at the Palace under the Oaks in Zalasowa, the topic of which was "You(TH) decide!". Representatives of local communities arrived there, including the mayor of the Ryglice commune - Paweł Augustyn, the commune secretary - Seweryn Gutkowski, the mayor of the Ustrzyki Dolne commune - Bartosz Romowicz, the deputy mayor of the Tuchów commune - Wiktor Chrzanowski, and school principals in the Ryglice commune. Primary school students also participated in the conference. The number of people was about 100.
We started the meeting with a speech by Seweryn Gutkowski, who presented the topic of the conference, and then we listened to a few words addressed to us by a representative of our locality. A presentation of Ustrzyki Dolne was shown. The next step of the meeting was speeches by project participants in national groups. Each country representative spoke about a selected topic prepared during the preceding activities in Bistuszowa. In order - representatives of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland. Topics of international exchange were discussed, young people were encouraged to participate in local life, and their experience in projects was presented. The next stage was a break, during which interviews were conducted. Everyone could taste sweets, drink coffee or tea. After the break, four representatives from each country shared their reflections on the life of young people and their local activities.
After the conference, everyone could taste Polish delicacies - mushroom pierogi or pancakes with jam or cheese.
When we finished the event in Zalasowa, the project participants met again in Bistuszowa. There we shared our reflections and feelings about this meeting. In excellent and nostalgic moods, we left the place of our meetings. It was a very short time when we could be together, but certainly for each of us it was not wasted. We gained a lot of information from the project, as well as a good mood, energy, and experience.
The educational program You(th) Decide is financially supported by the Visegrad Fund, under the patronage of the Košice municipal district, the mayor of Ryglice disctict (Poland)
The activities are developed simultaneously in 4 countries of V4 in partnership with..